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Page 8
The fall of the year is always the time when forest fires are to be
dreaded. In dry seasons like the present, there is always a danger that
some chance spark may light on the fallen leaves and the grass dried out
by the heat of summer, and thus set the forests on fire.
The latter part of this year has been particularly dry. In the Western
and Middle States they say that rain has not been so badly needed in
years. In many sections of the country there has been no rain for
months. Water-courses and wells are reported as dried up, and many of
the live stock are dying, for want of water.
The grass has become so parched and dry that the farmers are having to
feed their stock two months ahead of the usual time, and drive them
miles to water. It is feared that later in the year there will be a
fodder famine.
As a regular thing, the cattle graze in the fields and feed themselves
until the frost comes, when the farmers begin to feed them. Enough
fodder is raised during the season to carry the stock comfortably
through until the grass is up again; but as the corn and roots are
liable to rot or mould, little more is grown than is necessary. You can
see that it is a serious business for the farmers to have had to touch
their winter supplies two months ahead of time.
It is this drought which has caused the forest fires.
In those sections of the country that have as yet escaped the fire, the
prairies are as dry as tinder, and the owners of the fields are in
constant fear that a spark from a passing locomotive may set fire to
them. Men are kept on the watch night and day to prevent such a
calamity.
The Tonawanda Swamp is also on fire.
Tonawanda is in the northern part of New York State, in the neighborhood
of Buffalo, and is a great lumber town.
The swamp covers twenty-five thousand acres, and adjoining it are many
rich farm lands and valuable buildings.
The underbrush grows so thickly in this swamp that it has always been
necessary to clear it out every little while, and so the people have
been in the habit of setting it on fire every year a few days before the
equinoctial storms were due. They had found from experience that by the
time the storms came the fires had burnt out enough of the undergrowth
for their purpose, and the heavy rains which usually accompany the
storms put the fires out for them.
This year, however, the equinox brought no storm with it, and the
lighted fires have continued to burn with such fierceness that not only
the swamp, but the surrounding country, is in danger of being laid
waste.
The equinox is that period in which the sun, in its yearly course,
crosses the equator, and makes the day and the night of equal length.
This occurs twice in the year,--about March 21st and September
22d,--and, as we have told you, is usually attended by high winds and
severe storms.
In Virginia there is also a serious forest fire. The Dismal Swamp, as it
is called, is on fire. The smoke has become so dense that the people on
the trains which run through are forced to keep all the windows closed,
and even then the smoke is almost unbearable.
The train hands report that the game and wild animals that have made
their homes in the swamp are deserting it and fleeing in all directions.
All over these sections of the country the constant prayer is for rain,
rain, rain!
Curious, is it not, that in one year we should have had a period of such
heavy rain that dams were burst, rivers overflowed their banks, and the
farmers lost their hay crops, and that this wet season should have been
followed by such a severe drought that the forests have taken fire!
* * * * *
The latest news from Guatemala is that the government troops who are
supporting Dictator Barrios have succeeded in recapturing the important
city which the rebels had previously taken by storm.
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